Electrical connectors are widely used to electrically couple conductive elements, such as electrical cables and/or components of devices, to complete an electrical circuit involving those electrical (i.e., conductive) cables and/or components. The use of electrical connectors may be particularly useful where individual electrical cables and/or components are manufactured remotely or at a different time relative to assembly of their host device. In addition to enhancing manufacturability, use of electrical connectors may also enable the subsequent repair, replacement, and/or modification of individual components.
Electrical connectors often facilitate connection of plurality of conductors through a single connector device structure, which may include a corresponding set of terminal cavities for receiving each of the conductors (i.e., conductive terminals) that are typically electrically coupled with one or more electrical cables and/or components. Typically, each of these cavities receives an individual terminal and provides a structure configured so as to electrically and/or electromagnetically isolate the terminals from one another (e.g., to prevent shorting between electrical circuits). A locking structure may also be used to fix the terminals within the cavities. It should be noted that such terminal receiving cavities may be formed in a the housing of a connector or in any other related structure (e.g., a socket insert, grommet, or cavity block) that may be retained within a connector housing. Accordingly, incorporation of such terminal receiving cavities may enable a single housing configuration to accommodate a variety of insert, grommet, and/or cavity block configurations.
Despite the flexibility and other advantages associated with the use of the above-described cavity-defining connector structures, various problems have been encountered in their application and use. For example, it has been discovered that when a first set of terminals, which have been received and fixed in a first set of connector cavities defined in a first connector housing, is mated with a complementary set of terminals, which have been received and fixed in a second set of connector cavities defined in a second connector, one or more of the electrical connections to be made through the electrical connector may not be accomplished or may be accomplished poorly or unreliably due to misalignments, seating failures, introduction of interfering foreign material, or contamination. Such difficulties can then cause defects in the electrical performance of the assembly.
Despite the existence of the above-described problem, current electrical connectors, including known electrical connectors that incorporate a cavity block, fail to provide a mechanism for ensuring the proper (i.e., providing a reliable coupling with satisfactory achievement of expected performance) seating or each of the terminals within a connector housing. In addition, many known connectors fail to provide reliable feedback to the assembler or inspector so as to provide a reliable indication of whether a terminal is fully seated within the housing of the connector. As a result, a terminal may appear to be properly seated and may pass an electrical screening test performed on the connector, but may actually not be fully seated and may later fail in service.
Many of the problems in the prior art relate to failure to properly seat the terminals within an electrical connector. It is recognized that if reliable feedback could be obtained, so as to enable an assembler or inspector to know whether each terminal is properly seated, then appropriate remedial action could be undertaken before a device is placed in service. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a means for effectively ensuring that terminals are securely seated (e.g., within a connector housing) and/or for providing an indication when they are not.